LyrArc Article Gist
With 14,000 sold in the USA and a year long waiting list Smart cars have taken off even in the USA. MOst buyers are status conscious and buy it for the statement it makes about them and being affluent they go for the more upscale version of the Smart cars. Toyota is also coming up with acar like the Smart called the iQ and it will seat three but sits lower than the Smart.

LyrArc Article Gist
The BBC shows pictures of King Charles visit to Germany. King Charles's speech to the German parliament, the Bundestag, was the first for a British monarch. He received a standing ovation. He made the speech mostly in German, and spoke about the close cultural connections between the two nations- the first Shakespeare association was was formed not in England but in Weimar and Handel will be played at his coronation. He touched on the war in Ukraine and said- "Since I last spoke in this building the scourge of war is back in Europe." It has left freedom and human dignity "trampled in the most brutal way." He praised "the vital leadership" shown by UK and Germany.

About the future he said- "In the long and remarkable story of our countries there are many chapters yet to be written. Let us fill these with the relentless pursuit of a better tomorrow." 

LyrArc Article Gist
What happened with the Allied strategy of area bombing of Hamburg with 4 British raids a day, in 1943 when victory was far from assured, is shown by a historian of UK German relations. Most of the city destroyed, a million homeless.  King Charles's visit to Hamburg does a lot for reflection on this part of history, at this time of war in Europe.

LyrArc Article Gist
WSJ on how America's political establishment lied about Covid's real origins in a Lab in Wuhan, China, after some in the American scientific community ignored prudent warnings about possible accidental release, and sent the virus from the US lab to a lab in Wuhan that was not fully prepared to handle it. In reality the Biden administration erred when it did not conduct an open assessment of what had happened, because this would have earned and kept the people's trust instead of dividing the country into vaccine believers and vaccine unbelievers.  Sections of the virologist community in the US and in China that promoted such research against the advice of others in the scientific community could have accepted their error with humility. The people of Asia have made great advances in this century- some call it the Asian century- great advances in manufacturing and in science. Yet they are not so fragile, the people in the Buddha lands and the land of Gandhi are not not so fragile that they could not accept that what they had achieved was on the shoulders of what hundreds of European scientists and inventors had done over three centuries since 1700. And that there was much to learn. The Chinese people and government can look with great self-respect for what they had achieved in the last 100 years not to need the condescension of the virologist community.  In a sense this divided the US people's perceptions of China, with half of the country skeptical about the virologist community's explanations accepted by the Biden administration. This was not in any way good for China and the Chinese people. In fact one can say that by handling this with an open mind would have clearly built more trust in China-US relations, and that China- US relations reached the lowest during the end of the Biden administration point with the Balloons incident. And recovered afterwards to this point of mutual respect under a frank president with candor and respect. This vaccine blunder also created further culture wars conflicts around the US, to ones based on race, LGBTQ, and other less consequential matters than the deindustrialization and loss of America's manufacturing base and its best jobs in huge numbers under the watch of Bush and Obama administrations, and their followers in the Republican and Democratic parties. What happened is that the country was split on race, gender, immigration, and belief in Christian values. Issues such as nuclear non proliferation (Iran) presented in ways that adversely affect the US. by calling it something else. In all such issues honesty is the best policy, dealing in a straight forward manner wiht the public is the best course, for reasons that are timeless and well recognized. Failure to do so on the part of the Elites only creates distrust of official explanations by the people of America. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Court blocks deportation of a group of Venezuelans on the basis of Alien Enemies Act of 1798, says other remedies can be tried. This is one of 4 laws passed under John Adams in 1798 to remove citizens or subjects of a hostile nation during times of war or invasion. The case now goes to the US Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit is based in New Orleans with 3 Judges making the decision. Bush appointee Southwick joined Biden appointee Ramirez against Trump appointee Oldham in a 2-1 decision. Oldham in a 131 page dissent says-“Today the majority holds that President Trump is just an ordinary civil litigant. His declaration of a predatory incursion is not conclusive. Far from it. Rather, President Trump must plead sufficient facts — as if he were some run-of-the-mill plaintiff in a breach-of-contract case — to convince a federal judge that he is entitled to relief.” Southwick does not appear to see this as an invasion ignoring the deaths from fentanyl and drug trafficking in the US, the strain on public resources and cities of uncontrolled flow of migrants in recent years, saying- “A country’s encouraging its residents and citizens to enter this country illegally is not the modern-day equivalent of sending an armed, organized force to occupy, to disrupt or to otherwise harm the United States.” Yet even an armed organized force was pushed back in the War of 1812, and has little chance where the current problems have led to the deaths of more young Americans from drug trafficking than three times the deaths in the Vietnam and Korean Wars combined, three times the deaths in World War I and about 75% of the deaths in World War II, something that needs reflection and action. With the changing public sentiment in the UK and Europe and in the US on law and order and on migrants the Supreme Court is faced with coming up with a decision in the best interests of the Nation and its People. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
One hundred years after the First World War Germans look at memorials and museums in Kiel about the naval buildup in Germany in 1910-1914 in a different light. Germany's effort to match Britain's naval supremacy and the increasing tensions and nationalist rhetoric led to the war- worse, the defeat created conditions for a larger conflict in 1939-1945. To put this period behind it Germany has emphasized the dangers of war and getting people to realize what war is. Kiel itself was 80% destroyed at the end of the Second World War.

LyrArc Article Gist
In Feb 2026 after Minnesota protests and Agent Bovino violated rules set by Border head Homan, this is what Democrats want ICE to do- wear ID badges, no masks, and rules on warrants, on where agents can operate. Homan found Bovino's actions under Homeland Security head Kristi Noem's leadership to be not necessary to fulfill the mission of the organization, counterproductive when the goal was to ensure safety of the streets it actually created disturbance in neighborhoods. Minnesota presented a special case as actions in Tennessee and other states did not meet opposition of the kind it met in Minnesota. It was also a place where Kamala Harris's running mate Walz is governor who encouraged the protests. Now that there is some reflection on all sides Democrats are changing their position on abolish ICE calls by protestors to working to ensure ICE operates in ways that win confidence of neighborhoods that it is only enforcing the law and doing it in ways that Americans can accept without masks and military uniforms. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Congestion pricing has cut vehicles in central Manhattan (NY) district by 11% in 2025. One benefit it has made finding parking space easier. Peopel avoid taking the car if they can. Fee is $9 below 60th Street. It means safer quieter streets, easier walks, less traffic, and revenue for public transportation projects. 27 million fewer car trips say NY authorites were made compared to before the pricing was introduced. Traffic moves at speeds faster by about 4-5%, yet in the tunnels and bridges in NYC the morning commute traffic moves from 15% to 30% faster so it eases up a lot of traffic movement.  $550 million from revenue generated from the pricing can now be invested in the rail and subway transit with additional investments to upgrade it to make life easier for transit riders. This is improving quality of life for New Yorkers not just in the city district but in the outlying areas of NY state and NJ where 73,000 fewer cars leave every day for the commute into NY City. ...